Russia-Ukraine war live: Moscow orders more weapons to ‘maintain pace of offensive’ as Kyiv forces plead for arms | Ukraine

Russia attacks the Kharkov region in the northeast Ukraine with guided bombs on Wednesday, killing at least two people and wounding two others, the district governor said.

The two died when a car crashed into them in the village of Zolochevwhere a private home was also hit, Governor Oleg Sinegubov wrote in Telegram.

Ten private residences were also damaged, but there were no reports of casualties in the Russian attack on the city of Kharkiv, the city’s mayor, Igor Terekhov, said.

The attack on Zolochev – about 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the Russian border – also started three fires, injuring two people in their seventies, Sinegubov said.

The Kharkiv region came under intense shelling this spring as Russian forces attacked civilians and energy infrastructureand Ukraine says its air defenses are increasingly stretched as it desperately awaits more weapons and supplies from allies.

In its attacks in recent weeks, Moscow has begun using new powerful guided aerial bombs with devastating effect.

Ukrainian forces defend the strategic eastern stronghold of Chasov Yar they say they are still waiting for fresh ammo after the US approved a major military aid packagereported Reuters.

Muscovite army advances west of Avdievka, a city he captured in Februaryand his troops had reached the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, another major objective that would allow them to command higher ground and target cities further west.

Oleg Shiryaev, commander of Ukraine’s 225th Separate Assault Battalion, which is fighting near the city, said more artillery shells would help his unit hold its ground.

“I hope we get artillery shells soon,” he said, adding that ammunition supplied by the Allies had made a significant difference on the battlefield in the past.

“I witnessed events from a year ago when Wagner was advancing,” Shiryaev said, referring to the Russian mercenary group that staged a failed rebellion against Moscow last year.

“We received cluster munitions, which significantly changed the situation, and we were able to successfully counterattack.”

Cluster munitions are banned by many countries, but have been used by both sides in the conflict in Ukraine. Kiev has vowed to use them only to push out concentrations of enemy soldiers.

More trained troops and long-range weapons will also help Ukraine defend its territory more effectively, Shiryaev said.

“If we get long-range weapons, our leaders will cut (Russian forces) off from logistics and supplies.”

Ukraine has already received several long-range missiles from its allies that have been used against Russian airfields, ammunition depots, command posts and troop concentrations.

The US aid package includes $23.2 billion to replenish US weapons, supplies and equipment and $11.3 billion for current US military operations in the region. The US has no troops inside Ukrainebut the Pentagon is training Ukrainian troops elsewhere in the region.

The US Senate unanimously approved legislation to ban Russian uranium imports after the House of Representatives passed the bill in December.

Uranium is used to power commercial nuclear reactors that produce electricity.

US President Joe Biden, who last week signed a foreign aid bill to provide billions of dollars in aid to Ukraineis now expected to sign the uranium import bill into law.

US nuclear power plants will import about 12% of their uranium from Russia in 2022, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

A spokesman for the National Security Council said that Congress, by imposing the ban, “will give confidence to industry, allies and partners that the United States has made a clear decision to establish a secure nuclear fuel supply chain independent of adversary influence for decades to come.” “.

Good morning and welcome to us Ukraine blog.

Reuters reports that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, had ordered more and faster supplies of arms for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

At a meeting with the high military command about Moscow’s fight in Ukraine, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, who leads the operation, reported to Shoigu, the Russian Defense Ministry wrote in Telegram.

“In order to maintain the necessary pace of the offensive… it is necessary to increase it volume and quality of weapons and military equipment delivered to the troops, mostly weapons,” Shoigu was quoted as saying in a statement posted on Telegram.

With Kyiv blaming the lack of weapons, Russian forces have made almost daily tactical advances in recent weeks along the front line in southeastern Ukraine. Russia has captured about half a dozen villages in the Donetsk region, while consolidating battlefield positions in the Kharkiv region.

Other news:

• Ukraine launched drones into several Russian regions in the hours before Wednesday morningRussian officials said, and unofficial Russian news outlets reported a fire in the oil refinery in Ryazan after the attack. Pavel Malkovthe governor of Ryazan Oblast, which borders Moscow Oblast in its northwest, said there were no injuries in the drone attacks there.
  Russian Telegram channel Baza, which is close to the security services, reported that the attack caused a fire at the oil refinery in Ryazan. The governors of Kursk and Voronezh regions in southwestern Russia, which border Ukraine, also reported drone attacks on their territories, saying there was no damage or injuries.

• Russian strikes on Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, have killed at least one person and wounded nine others on Tuesday, the regional governor announced. The Ukrainian railway company said the 24-year-old victim was one of its employees.

• A 98-year-old woman in Ukraine escaped Russian-occupied territory by walking almost 10 km (six miles) alone, wearing a pair of slippers and supported by a cane. Lydia Stepanovna Lomikovska separated from her family and continued alone after they decided to leave the frontline town of Oceretine.

• Russian-occupied Crimea is under Ukrainian attack, Moscow-based authorities saidfrom what they described as US-supplied Atacms missiles.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country needs a “significant acceleration” of arms supplies. “We are very reliant on prompt delivery from the United States,” he said. “These supplies should feel like a disruption to the occupiers’ logistics, making them afraid to base themselves anywhere in occupied territory and within our power.”

• The International Rescue Committee described a worsening situation in Kharkiv, which is located near the Russian border and is the second largest city in Ukraine, with an increasingly alarming population. The IRC said the recent attacks had caused “huge damage to civilian infrastructure and led to a sharp increase in casualties among the local population… air raid sirens sound day and night”, with people “experiencing increased anxiety and distress”.